GM1 Article 3(1) U-space airspace

REASONS FOR THE DESIGNATION OF U-SPACE AIRSPACE

The U-space airspace may be designated for several reasons; for example:

(a)     Safety

(1)     Having the need to share a common volume of airspace between manned and unmanned aircraft;

(2)     To improve the visibility (e.g. by means of electronic conspicuity) of (un)manned aircraft, thus enabling a known traffic environment;

(3)     To decrease the risk on ground in the case of multiple UAS flying over an assembly of people in urban areas or over highly populated areas (in combination with other means such as the certification of unmanned aircraft, UAS operators, etc.); and

(4)     In the case of high UAS density, there could be a specific need to reduce the risk of UAS mid-air collision by organising the traffic through the introduction of certain UAS route structures. U-space services, such as geo-awareness, may provide support in that respect.

(b)     Economy

(1)     To ensure a fair and efficient sharing of the airspace volume between manned and unmanned aircraft, and between manned aircraft;

(2)     To enable more complex and denser UAS operations; and

(3)     To support the development of the drone sector and the provision of associated services to the public.

(c)      Security

(1)     To improve the visibility of unmanned aircraft by having most of the airspace users identified;

(2)     To support the enforcement of local regulations and rules (e.g. prohibition of flights over sensitive sites, limited schedules, specific performance requirements) where there are too frequent violations, if the availability of the related UAS geographical zones is not sufficient to ensure the effective application of flight constraints to support UAS operations. This may notably concern the protection of critical infrastructures and no-fly zones;

(3)     To support Member States’ authorities in identifying, responding to, and investigating the use of UAS for malicious or unlawful purposes; and

(4)     To support the protection of services that are critical to the proper functioning of the Member States, the economies and the societies from the use of UAS for malicious or unlawful purposes.

(d)     Privacy

To support the enforcement of particular conditions for certain or all UAS operations for privacy reasons. Flying over some specific areas could be restricted to some users or to some slots (as it is the case for restricted areas for manned aviation).

(e)     Environment

(1)     To define environmental requirements for UAS operations (noise could be limited, a minimum height could be required);

(2)     To distribute traffic density to an acceptable level of disturbance over environmentally sensitive sites;

(3)     Enabling a diverse set of UAS operations (e.g. commercial and residential areas etc.), while respecting environmentally protected areas.

(4)     To minimise CO₂ emissions, especially in urban environments.